Sergio Garcia's no good, very bad day at the Masters

Sergio Garcia.
(Image credit: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Talk about a championship hangover. Sergio Garcia, the Masters defending champion, entered the record books again Thursday at Augusta National — but probably not how he would have wanted.

On the first day of the first round of the 2018 Masters, the 38-year-old veteran was actually having a pretty decent day on the course, at 2-over par. That is, until he shot a 13 on the 15th hole, a par-5.

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The octuple bogey is tied for the worst score on a single hole in Masters history, as Garcia joined Tommy Nakajima and Tom Weiskopf in infamy. Five of Garcia's shots on the hole landed in the water.

Garcia's long and well-documented quest for the elusive green jacket finally paid off last year, when he beat Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff hole to secure his first and only major championship. But barring a stunning turn of events, he'll have to wait until the U.S. Open commences on June 14 for another shot at a major title after Thursday's showing.

For what it's worth, Garcia recovered on his final three holes of the day, notching a birdie on the 16th and finishing with two pars on holes 17 and 18.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.